The sun was shining, the birds were chirping and it was another beautiful day in Vermont. After months of preparation, the time had finally come to leave for SURTEX. We had worked feverishly on our catalogs and panels and were so ready to share them with the world.

Syrena pulled into ALI Headquarters to find Russ with his hands full of delicious coffee for the trip… she knew right then it was going to be a good trip! Jack Appelman, our CEO, was gracious enough to drive, so we packed up his Suburban and began another ALI family trip! With Captain Jack at the helm, the “kids” had time to unwind before the big weekend, so Russ and Syrena popped in a movie and chilled out. Matt was Jack’s first mate, so he helped to navigate our journey.

About 4 hours later, we were in the heart of New York City. We pulled into the Javits Center and they permitted us ½ hour to set up our booth. It was all hands on deck, but 37 minutes later our booth was ready to go! We snapped a quick photo and headed out to get some dinner.

Sunday May 15, 2016

It was cloudy and chilly, but the energy of the Big Apple was still contagious. The ALI crew was up bright and early and in “show mode.” They got to the Javits Center, chugged a coffee and started the day. The day began with lots of productive meetings. The team met with their clients (and potential new clients) for the remainder of the show. If there was any down time, Matt and Jack would walk the show looking for common trends and themes. At 6:00pm when the show was over for the day, the ALI team hopped in a cab and went to meet a customer for dinner. We enjoyed a delicious meal with great company!

Monday May 16, 2016

The weather was warmer, the streets were busier and we knew it would be a big day at the show. We had back to back meetings scheduled so we got to the show and started our day. We were so excited when some of our artists dropped by the booth. We love getting to see their smiling faces! We enjoyed seeing people color on our adult coloring panel- it was a huge hit! Matt was able to go to see Dean Russo’s studio (there will be a separate blog about that amazing experience). The show came to an end and it was time for another business dinner. Once again, we had a great time and a fabulous meal- thank goodness for all of New York’s options.

Tuesday May 17, 2016

We were all so ready for the day because it was the last day of the show… it was time to head back to our quiet homes! We finished the show strong with lots of productive meetings with artists and clients. We packed up and started our journey back to Vermont. There were lots of discussions about trends, projects, fresh ideas and customer leads on the way home. Matt even started his follow up on the car ride! We stopped for a quick bite to eat and then back on the road. We got back to ALI Headquarters and everyone parted ways. We knew we had to get home and rest up for a full day of catch up and follow up on Wednesday.

We loved being able to see our current customers, artists and new clients at the show. It is very special to be able to finally see a face that goes with the email address we communicate with on a daily basis. After all of our discussions during and after the show, we noticed a lot reoccurring requests. Here are some of the things people are looking for: pop art, 2016 pantone colors, mixed patterns, patriotic art, folk art and wildlife. We had lots of inquiries for a variety of products; including, but not limited to: puzzles, fabric, greeting cards, tabletop and wall décor. Many manufacturers are interested in popping gold or reflective materials (i.e. foils) into their products, so bright colors are still very popular. We were so surprised that many “traditional” and “conservative” manufactures are starting to spread their wings and were asking about pop art and abstract art. People are craving the color and happiness that goes along with this look. Art Licensing has so much amazing work to present, we can fulfill everyone’s requests!

Last Monday, Syrena hopped on the train in Albany and a few short hours later, she arrived in the heart of the Big Apple. She grabbed a taxi and headed straight for the Javits Center. After getting a much needed Caramel Macchiato, she was ready to seize the day!

This year, the Toy Fair opened its doors to thousands of registered global play professionals to explore a record-breaking 415,000 net square feet filled with thousands of toys, games and youth entertainment products. It is the largest toy and youth product marketplace in the Western Hemisphere. There are 150,000+ products at the show, but we were there for the puzzles and the adult coloring products (adult coloring books, puzzles, mugs, posters, and even socks)!

At the show, Syrena met with clients to review art, discuss new opportunities and even play with a few of the toys! The Toy Fair is a grown child’s dream come true! Everywhere you look there is something fun to play with. Walking down the aisles of booths, people are tossing toys over your head, bubbles are floating around and people are even riding the toys around. She saw lots of fantastic puzzles with art from our artists made by various manufactures as well as some other products like flash cards.

The buzz at the show was all about coloring. She was so excited to see adult coloring books with art from our artist, Hello Angel on display.

The day was action packed and lots of fun, but all good things must come to an end. She hopped back on the train and headed north… back to reality in Vermont.

After lots of meetings, art reviews and laughs the sales team made its way back to Vermont and it has been a whirlwind of follow up e-mails, phone calls and even snail mail packages ever since! During the show, our booth was full of existing (and potential) customers all 3 days of the show.

This year, Art Licensing had a large booth (#204-208) displaying LOTS of beautiful art. We had 18 panels categorized by subject displaying all types of trend right themes (like abstract and lodge) as well as the ever-popular topics (like dogs/cats and wildlife). You can see a virtual tour of our booth on our Facebook page.

Artists from all walks of life come to Surtex to show and market their new collections to manufacturers various products including, but not limited to: stationery, giftware, toys, publishing, and much more. Each year, thousands of people travel to the Javits Center for Surtex and the shows that run with it (the National Stationery Show and the International Contemporary Furniture Fair). Surtex is a great place for artists and agents to display artwork to existing clients as well as to meet and start relationships with new potential manufacturers. This show gives us the opportunity to build extraordinary relationships, friendships and memories!

This year was the 112th annual North American International Toy Fair. It is the largest toy and youth product marketplace in the Western Hemisphere, with more than 1,000 exhibiting manufacturers, distributors, importers and sales agents that showcase 150,000+ products to nearly 10,000 buyers representing 7,000+ unique retail outlets in 100 countries! We went to the show on Saturday (the first day) and it was already packed!

There is so much to see at the Toy Fair and everywhere you look you see fun stuff! It is a challenge to stay on task and not let your inner child come out to play! We saw a little bit of everything; from stuffed animals (like grumpy cat or a life size Chewbacca), to toy bow and arrows, to boomerangs, to costumes, to airbrush paint sets and pretty much everything in between. We were there for 1 toy only- PUZZLES! We have many artists placed with the various puzzle manufactures at the show and we are always looking for new customers to work with as well as new licensing opportunities for our artists. We had a very successful show. We came home with wish lists from our customers, to do lists for our artists, and follow up lists for the sales team.

The ALI team is working very hard to finish our last minute “to do” list for the show. Surtex is our busiest show of the year, so this is when we reveal our newest catalog. This year we are super excited to show off some of the new additions to our catalog. For example, each sales representative gave a “thumbs up” to their top 10 artists. We also added theme sections so you can take a quick glance at one genre at a time. For example, if you are looking for Christmas images, you will be able to just turn to the Christmas spread to see the variety we offer!

We are also working on our panels. The sales team and the art department spend countless hours gathering the perfect images to be displayed on our panels. Our booth is the first thing our customers see, so we want to make sure we have imagery that will draw people into our space. We are very proud of the way our panels will look, so if you are at the show, be sure to stop by our booth. At the show, we will be meeting with many manufactures from all over the marketplace, so we want our booth to stand out! We have a surprise for all of our appointments and everyone passing by- it is going to be AWESOME!

If you are interested in attending the show, there is still time to get your badges! You can register online until May 13, 2014. If you cannot make it, no worries! We will definitely be posting photos of the show on our website and all of our social media sites.

On February 16-19, 2014, the Javits Center in NYC was transformed into a dreamlike fun house for the 111th American International Toy Fair. This was the largest toy marketplace ever held in the Western Hemisphere!More than 30,000 “play professionals” from over 100 countries were at Toy Fair this year.

Courtney (resident puzzle guru) and Syrena had back- to -back (to back) meetings so we could make sure to have enough time with over 10 of the hottest puzzle/toy manufacturers at the show! We showed a TON of new art and had lots of great feedback. We also saw many of our artists’ images on puzzles being sold at the show.

We came home with a large checklist of follow up “To-Dos;” including, but not limited to: writing contracts, sending PDFs for review, and sending inspiration/requests for our artists.